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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

This is one busy week! We are celebrating Chanukah, Thanksgiving, and the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, the longest running sci-fi TV show in history. Am I going to cover all of that ground in this post? You bet'cha!

To get my recipe forBlue Velvet Cupcakes in a
"keeper" PDF document,click here.

First up the Festival of Lights, which begins at sundown tomorrow (Wednesday, Nov. 27) and is observed by the kindling of lights on a unique candelabrum (a menorah). One additional light is added on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night.Last year, I posted a recipe for Blue Velvet Cupcakes that I used to make a tasty cupcake menorah. If you'd like that recipe, click here.

And this recipe led to the one below:

a Tardis blue Doctor Who Wedding Cake!

THE BLUE WEDDING CAKE STORY: Last year, after I posted my Blue Velvet Cupcake recipe, one of our many very kind blog followers, Laine Barash, remembered it when her daughter announced her plan to get married.But this wasn't just any marriage. This was a story of two hearts broken and mended; two souls lost and found. Johanna tells their story in her own words below...

“Chris and I married in 2001. Neither of us were especially nice people at the time. I started to change and he did not. It got really bad. We separated...and the divorce was final 1/11. I didn't speak a word to him. Then one day I agreed to meet him for coffee. I could see instantly the changes he had made. And with each day since then I am more proud of the man he has become. The man he was meant to be. And I'm grateful, I never stopped loving him. Just knew that we all deserved better. So we've both made a ton of changes. We both have a long way to go, but we have direction. And each other. And our son. And God. So I'm proud to go through life as his wife!” ~ Johanna Rothberg Banfill (photo by Shana Rothberg)

After Chris lost his wife and then turned himself around to win her back, the couple decided to officially re-tie the knot on their original anniversary, November 13.
Of course, I was touched by their story and delighted to hear that Laine was able to use my recipe to inspire her creation of a very special wedding cake, a Doctor Who cake of Tardis blue.

Why a Doctor Who cake? Because the bride and groom are huge fans of the show and the bride requested it. Why Tardis blue?Because TARDIS is the name of the ship Doctor Who uses to explore the universe (TARDIS = Time And Relative Dimension In Space). And the ship is disguised to look like a blue British police box. (When the series first aired back in 1963, these boxes were a common sight in Britain.) In the wider universe, blue is commonly associated with harmony and faithfulness, which means this beautiful slice of cake is perfect for a wedding like Johanna and Chris's...

Photo by Laine Barash

Laine Barash

Laine's Tardis Blue

Doctor WhoWedding CakeRecipe courtesy Laine Barash for the wedding
of her daughter, Johanna, and son-in-law, Chris

Directions: To make the cake, follow Cleo Coyle's Blue Velvet Cupcake recipe (click here for the recipe) with these adjustments:

1 – Use two cake mixes, for two 8-inch square pans and two 10-inch square pans. 2 – When you mix up the batter, increase the amount of coloring gel paste. For Cleo's Blue Velvet Cupcakes, she suggests 1 to 2 teaspoons of Wilton brand Royal Blue gel paste (pictured).For the Tardis Blue Doctor Who Cake, increase that to one full ounce (one jar) of Royal Blue gel paste per cake mix, and a tiny glop of violet. (That's 2 ounces of gel paste total and 2 tiny glops of violet for the 2 cake mixes that create the batter for your four layers of wedding cake.)

3 – When you divide the batter among the pans, you will notice that they are not as full as usual, and that’s okay. Bake these layers at 300° F. and they will bake up more level, which means you will not have to slice off any domes to even them out. Frost, top with a Doctor Who cake topper and serve to oohs and ahhs galore!

A few months back, I shared my favorite recipe for smoky, zesty Chipotle Dipping Sauce (click here for the recipe). I use it for veggies and chips, but also to make Chipotle Tuna Salad and Chipotle Turkey Salad, a good use for turkey leftovers this weekend!

About the same time that I first posted this recipe, I decided to make a Chipotle Cranberry Sauce for Thanksgiving.

This little decision led to weeks of debate at the Coyle household. I thought it was a great idea. Marc (my husband) thought nobody would like a recipe that radically changed traditional cranberry sauce.Then, last week, The New York Times came out with its Thanksgiving menu, and (wouldn't you know it), they suggested a "spicy" cranberry sauce with jalapenos and cayenne. Ha! (Do culinary minds think alike or what?)

This jazzed up tuna salad sandwich was made with my Chipotle Dipping Sauce. This weekend, I'll bemixing it with our leftover Thanksgiving turkey to make Chipotle Turkey Salad.

Pictured below is an even better idea: Use my Easy Chipotle CranberrySauce recipe for your traditional Black Friday turkey sandwich. When Marc finally tasted it, he admitted the Chipotle Cranberry Sauce on the cold turkey sandwich brought a nice zing to the roasted meat. The smoky, spicy flavor notes of the chipotle paired beautifully with the sweet-tart taste of the cranberries. Now he wants to try the sauce with some Indian dishes as a revved-up chutney. Sounds good to me...I'll keep you posted!

Cleo Coyle's Easy Chipotle Cranberry Sauce

Although I had been planning a "spicy" cranberry sauce for months, the NY Times beat me to the punch. Still, I think mine is a better recipe. Why? It's so much easier! The Times version has several ingredients and steps. You're welcome to their version. But I'll stick with my way. It's a snap...

1. PREPARED SAUCE VERSION: Whether you're using canned cranberry sauce (whole or jellied) or you're using prepared homemade sauce, all you have to do is warm it in a small saucepan until it loosens up and becomes more liquid. Now open a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (pictured). Dip a spoon in and measure out one teaspoon. Stir it into your warmed cranberry sauce. Taste...if you'd like it hotter, add more. If you'd like it even hotter, chop up a chipotle pepper and stir it in. Remove from heat, allow to cool, and serve. I use it on cold turkey sandwiches with mayo.2. FROM SCRATCH VERSION: Follow the directions you like best, using whole cranberries, water, and sugar. Your favorite recipe may also include orange juice, orange zest, and/or fresh or dried and ground ginger. Once you begin the cooking process with the cranberries, open a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Stir in one teaspoon of the sauce for a mild spicy flavor. Add another teaspoon or two for a hotter version. For the very hot version, chop up a few peppers and stir them in, as well. Finish cooking the sauce, cool, and serve.

Just be sure to warn your guests

which sauce is traditional and which is spicy...and please do have a...

8 comments:

Cleo, thank you so much for sharing our family's great joy so beautifully! The Tardis cake was a lot of fun to make, and started with Jo's seeing a Tardis cake she loved. The fun part was being able to use your Blue Velvet recipe to make the inside Tardis blue too!

And Chipotle Cranberry Sauce...I LOVE this idea. Love cranberry sauce, and in my book, everything is better with some hot pepper added! I will definitely make and eat this one with joy.

Laine - I'm the one who must thank YOU (and Jo!) for sharing your personal stories and beautiful cake and photos. Jo and Chris's story is incredibly moving and inspiring, and I hope their tale of turning their lives around and finding each other again inspires and uplifts others out there, too. (Hearing it sure made my day!)

As for your Doctor Who Cake--it is just gorgeous. You did a spectacular job. And the photos are so romantic. I love that slice of Tardis blue cake so pretty on the china plate, good enough for Buckingham Palace, it seems to me. :)

Thank you for the good wishes and a veryHappy Thanksgiving to you and your family, as well!

Cleo, I love cranberries on my sandwiches the next day. Yum, yum, yum. Always reminds me of the Friends episode when Ross flips out because someone at work stole his post-Thanksgiving sandwich with cranberry sauce on it! LOL!